The couch as defense and as potential for enactment

Use of the couch in psychoanalysis is almost universal because of its many advantages. This paper focuses on situations in which the use of the couch is not beneficial, involving problems of the patient or of the analyst. Interferences with the usefulness of the couch are illustrated by means of vig...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Psychoanalytic quarterly Vol. 64; no. 1; p. 23
Main Author Goldberger, M
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.01.1995
Subjects
Adult
Conflict (Psychology)
Defense Mechanisms
Dreams
Female
Humans
Interior Design and Furnishings
Male
Physician-Patient Relations
Physicians' Offices
Psychoanalytic Interpretation
Psychoanalytic Theory
Psychoanalytic Therapy - methods
Social Isolation
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Summary:Use of the couch in psychoanalysis is almost universal because of its many advantages. This paper focuses on situations in which the use of the couch is not beneficial, involving problems of the patient or of the analyst. Interferences with the usefulness of the couch are illustrated by means of vignettes from the analysis of four patients which demonstrate the isolating potential of the couch and the reasons why this may make the couch appeal to some patients and repel others. The distancing potential of the couch may sometimes appeal to analysts, particularly when the face-to-face arrangement is troublesome. The use of the couch for the enactment of conflict is discussed, as are analytic attitudes toward the use or non-use of the couch.
ISSN:0033-2828
2167-4086
DOI:10.1080/21674086.1995.11927442